


It Started With a Letter

by pherryt



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cats, Christmas, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Kidfic, M/M, Pets, Sfb, Writing Prompt, dadstiel, dean and cas are teachers, established Destiel, there are two spots that threaten angst but it's gone pretty quick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 13:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8534317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Dean and Castiels young daughter wants a pet...so of course, she asks Santa for one.Only problem is, the kid doesn't specify what kind, so now both of her dad are floundering to find the perfect one.Fate intervenes...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jhoom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhoom/gifts).



> Prompt from Jhoom - very simple, very basic: Dean and Cas as dads, their kid wants a pet (with the idea that it would be fluffy)
> 
> this kinda got away from me. it was supposed to be much shorter than it was. and then i had trouble ENDING it. I hope you like it anyway.

It all started with a letter.

To be honest, it all started with the conversation that happened  _before_  the letter. It was the conversation that actually _inspired_  the letter. What Dean and Cas had failed to realize was the determination of their six year old daughter Mary.

_“Dear Santa,_

_I don’t want anything else for Christmas this year. I want a pet. Any kind you have. But Daddy and Papa said I could only have one if you brought it. And Papa also said that you would only bring me a pet if I was very good this year and I was responsible and promised very hard to take care of it myself. I'll be the best ever. I promise!_

_Love, Mary_

_P.S. give my other presents to other kids, please.”_

Her Uncle Sam had helped her write the letter when he’d picked her up from school with her cousin John and she’d proudly showed it to her Papa and her Daddy as soon as they both came home. They sealed it up, addressed it to the North Pole with Mary insisting on being able to hand it to the mailman herself, so she could tell them how important it was. That meant waiting for the weekend of course.

It was all very cute and heartwarming and everything, but now they had a problem.

What should they get her?

They’d thought the letter might give them some clues, but of course it hadn’t. Even Sam’s prompting during the letter writing hadn’t pulled anything out of her. She was leaving it up to fate. Only fate happened to be her family.  _This could only end well_ , Dean thought sarcastically.

“A guinea pig.” Castiel sat down at the table in the small teachers lounge at the high school with not even a greeting. Just that. So Dean responded in kind.

“Dude, no. Not a guinea pig. They squeal. I had to deal with them for an elementary class once. Fuckers are _piercing_.”

“But they’re cute, and fluffy, Dean.” Castiel’s voice was eager and Dean narrowed his eyes at his husband.

“Somehow, I think this is more about what you want than what Mary wants. Besides, so’s a cat.” Dean countered.

“Okay then, if you’d prefer a cat, we’ll get one of those.” Castiel avoided the first part of the sentence with an almost guilty look.  _Aha_ , Dean thought.

“I’m allergic to cats, Cas. You know that.”

“Then why bring them into it?” Castiel huffed in annoyance. “Besides, there’s medication for that, plus certain breeds  _are_  hypoallergenic. We could do this.”

“No cats.”  Dean reiterated firmly.

“Fine.” Castiel heaved a put upon sigh, rolled his eyes and the lunch conversation continued along different veins as others joined them.

“Why not a dog? They’re loyal, fluffy and all in all, good companions.” Sam brought it up during poker night. It was his turn to host. Cas had bowed out and elected to let the kids have a sleepover at his and Dean’s place. And Charlie had a date. So this time around, it was just Sam, Dean, Benny and Eileen.

“Nope. Not happening. Stop projecting on my kid Sammy.”

“Yeah, Dean, sure I always wanted a dog, but I mean, why not? Your life now, it’s not the same as when we were growing up. It wouldn’t have been a good idea for us to have a dog, not with the way we lived. I get that. But you guys have a stable home, a nice big yard. It could be wonderful.” Sam looked at Dean imploringly.

“Dude, you want a dog? Get a fucking dog. You’re not living your dog fantasies vicariously through me, okay?”

“But why not? You still haven’t said what you have against them.” Eileen spoke up now, curious as to why her brother – in – law was so adamantly against dogs.

“It’s just, well the small ones are just yappy and annoying, and a bit on the nippy side. And the big ones are…well,  _big,_ and in general they slobber, destroy things, chew everything in sight.” Dean floundered. "They'd wreck the joint."

“But they make good guardians too. Like I said, they’re loyal, and if they bond with Mary, she’ll have a friend for life.”

“No. No dogs. Now, are we playing or what?”

After that, their friends started getting into it with their own suggestions. Everything ranging from the mundane, to things Dean wound up having to look up, just to see if they were real. Charlie tossed out Chinchilla’s while Benny suggested an Iguana. Garth suggested a Sugar Glider and Ash suggested snakes. Dean shuddered at that last one. He couldn’t remember who had suggested ferret, because he’d put his foot down on that one  _fast_. *

(Authors disclaimer. I think it's obvious that I LOVE ferrets and have nothing against them. But this IS the number one deterrent for the casual owner)

“They stink!” was his objection. To be fair, though, he did actually look them up but then he saw exactly how much care they’d take and he noped right out of that one too. A number of the odder ones had been a lot more work than he wanted to give to a six year old.

And so it went. The closer they got to Christmas, the closer they got to panicking because they still hadn’t figured out what  _kind_  of pet Mary would want.

“Dean, you’ve vetoed everything else. What else is even left?” Castiel said in exasperation.

“Well, I was thinking of a cute little fighting fish. You know with the flowy fins and the pretty colors? All kids love pretty colors.”

“You want to get our 6 year old a Beta Fish? A pet she can’t even touch?” Castiel frowned at his husband disapprovingly. Dean squirmed under his gaze.

“Well, yeah. Beta’s are cool, and they’re easy to take care of.”

“But their life expectancy is low. Our daughter will be heartbroken when it dies.” Castiel noted. Dean’s face fell.

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”  Dean pouted and Castiel patted the freckled man on the shoulder, and then leaned in for a kiss.

“It’s okay, dear. That’s why you’ve got me.”

With nothing else to go on, Dean and Cas were floundering. They didn’t just want to get any old pet. They wanted it to be something special, something Mary would fall in love with and something that wasn’t overly restrictive or highly demanding in its care. Why was this so hard?

They had less than a month to go.

They were doomed.

Mary's happy squeals echoed through the house and both Castiel and Dean groaned from their bed. "She's your daughter," Dean mumbled sleepily.

"This early in the day with that kind of energy? Oh she's definitely yours," Cas shot back grumpily.

"Papa! Daddy!" Mary's voice was closer now, her little feet slapping over hardwood floors. Castiel's side of the bed was closer to the door and he blearily opened his eyes knowing she'd head for him first.

Wide green eyes, a cherubic grin and a tanned freckled face all framed with large, dark curls was staring back at him, proving him right, those green eyes sparkling with happiness. "What's up little one?" Castiel smiled back at her, her sweet grin infectious as always.

"Santa came early…" This time she whispered. Not like she was trying to be quiet so she wouldn't wake up her other father – fat chance there - but more the quietness of awe. And that's when he heard it.

_Mew..._

A tiny, innocent little meow, yet his husband shot up from the bed like someone had been shot. "What the fu – uh, I mean fudge?"

"Mary...where'd you get that?" Castiel asked slowly, as he sat up from the bed at a more sedate pace then Dean had. He finally took in the small, wriggling bundle of fur in her hands.

"It's a kitten." She beamed proudly.

"We can see that. I asked you where he came from. Can you answer the question Mary?" Cas prodded.

"Santa brought him." Cas palmed his face. Reasoning and questioning a six year old was always a little bit like Russian Roulette. You never knew if you were going to win or not.  Dean snorted beside him, though he was keeping his distance from the kitten.

"Where did Santa leave the kitten for you to find, baby girl?" Dean came to his husband's rescue.

"In the laundry room. I heard him so I looked and I found him." Dean and Cas exchanged looks.

"Well, how do you know it's from Santa? He only brings presents on Christmas, and he leaves  _those_  under the tree." Dean said slowly, not wanting to upset her.

"And the stockings." Castiel pointed out quickly, before Mary could.

"And the stockings, yes, of course." Dean agreed. "How could I forget?"

"Because you just wok up." Cas leaned over and gave his husband a good morning kiss. He turned back to Mary.

"But it has to be Santa." Mary pouted as she stared at her fathers. "Cause I asked him and here he is!" she lifted the kitten. He was pretty young, Castiel noted. Very young actually. His heart sank with the possibilities that thought had conjured up.

"Mary, why don't you show us where you found the little guy, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed readily, turning to scamper out of the room. She thundered throughout the house in a way that still made Castiel shake his head in disbelief. For such a small child, she could easily be mistaken for a herd of elephants. He'd blame Dean's genetics, but one look at Gabriel and he realized it would be unfair to do so unilaterally.

"Babe, this might not end well." Dean caught his arm as they stood up to follow.

"I know. Let's just go see what we're dealing with first before we discuss anything. Find out if we're about to have a traumatized little girl or not before we explain that Santa did  _not_ bring the kitten."

"Good idea." Dean nodded.

They found their daughter by the laundry room as she'd said, and she pointed behind the washer. Once again, Dean and Cas exchanged glances. They didn’t need any further words for this. Castiel nodded and pulled Mary back out of the room, telling her they needed to take care of the kitten and check him over.

When they'd left, Dean poked around the back of the washer, listening intently since he couldn't see anything. He thought he heard something. Fuck. He pushed the washer away from the wall and found a hole dug out around the pipes, just big enough for something cat shaped. Fuck, fuck, fuck. How long had that been there? Guess he'd be adding repairing a hole in the wall to his to do list. He sneezed and sniffled.

He bent down and carefully looked inside. If whatever was residing in the little nook was feral, he was not about to antagonize it. Golden yellow eyes stared back at him unblinking. After a minute of letting his eyes adjust, he could make out the form of a skinny, adult cat, and at least one more little ball of fur. Something glinted from the neck of the adult cat.

Crap. Almost as bad as being feral, the cat belonged to someone. Meaning the kitten their daughter was already bonding with couldn't stay. Pushing back the sigh, Dean slowly reached forward and started talking as softly and as gently as he could.

"Hey sweetheart, it's okay. Not gonna hurt you. I just wanna see who you belong to, all right? And then we gotta get you and the kids outta there and check you all over, make sure you're all okay, sound good?" His nose tickled and he fought the sneeze back. It would do him no good to scare the crap out of the cat.

Dean continued to talk, the cat watching warily, as he inched forward in tiny increments.  The cat would have no fear of humans, having been someone's pet, but it was also a mom with somewhat newborn kittens. If she felt threatened, he'd be covered in scratches pretty damn quick and they might retreat too far in to get out.

"Thought you hated cats?" His brothers’ amused voice behind him nearly made him jump. It was only by supreme effort of will that Dean didn't. He tried not to change the tone of his voice as he talked to his brother. He'd been running out of things to say to the cat anyway.

"Jesus Sammy, you nearly scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry man. What have we got here?" Sam followed Dean’s cue and gentled his own voice as he leaned down beside him.

"Mama cat, maybe one more kitten. I think I've almost got her."

"What do you want me to do? Cas is too scared to come in for fear Mary will follow and he didn't know what you'd be finding."

"Good thinking. Okay, if Cas hasn't already done it, one of us should call Garth, see if he's available for house calls. Then make a little cozy nest in a box or something for when we get these guys out of here." Dean’s fingers finally touched the fur of the mother cat and he very carefully, very gently rubbed at her face. She closed her eyes and tilted into it before pulling away and sniffing at him. He counted it as a win when she started to lick his fingers.

"Good girl, that's a good girl, not gonna hurt you. Just let me reach a _little_ further…" He brushed his fingers down the cats back and around till he could start feeling into the pile. He found 2 lumps, one was breathing, one not. Or at least he couldn’t tell if it was. "Christ," he breathed.

"What is it?" Sammy had stepped away to call Garth himself, but he paused when he heard his brother's curse.

"Bring a shoe box too. And don't let Mary know."

"Oh, fuck."

Castiel had finally settled on having Mary write Santa a new letter to confirm that the 'gift' was actually a gift since it wasn't Christmas yet. Sam returned from the laundry room and Castiel paused to look up with a questioning look. His brother in laws face was sober.

"We called Garth and he's on his way. You have a box already set up for the kitten Mary found, right?" At Cas' nod, Sam continued, "Good. Is it big enough for guests?" Mary gasped, catching on quick.

"Are there  _more_  Uncle Sam?"

"Well, there's a mama cat, Mary. And she'll want to be with her baby, I'm sure." She started to bounce in her seat until Cas reached over to pull her into his lap.

"Now Mary, don't get too excited. We still have to ask Santa if this was your present and it might take a while get an answer back. The North Pole _is_ very far away, after all, and the mailman doesn’t have Santa’s magic sleigh to get there really quick.”

"But if the kitten isn't my present, why is he in our house?"

“That's a real good question, Mary. The mama cat might have been a neighbor’s cat who got lost and then had kittens where she would feel safe. We need to make sure there isn’t another little girl or boy who isn't missing their kitty. You wouldn't want another kid to be sad, would you?"

"No, papa. I don't like _anyone_ being sad."

"I know, baby. You're such a sweet and kind girl. I love you."

"I love you too papa." She gave him a big smooch on the cheek and jumped down off his lap, scampering over to the box to peer inside at the sleeping kitten.

"No touching, Mary. Let the little one have a nap," Cas called out as Sam came to sit beside the blue eyed man with a more serious look. In a low voice, he turned to Sam. "What's wrong? What did Dean really find?"

"Okay, so we're not really sure, cause it's dark and all, but there's definitely a mother cat with a collar and possibly two more kittens. He thinks we might, um…need a shoebox for one of them."

"Oh no…" Cas breathed, his eyes flicking out towards Mary and glad she couldn't hear them. And also glad he and Dean had had the foresight to keep her from investigating with them.

"Yeah, so, all we can do is wait and see what Garth says. Dean doesn't want to try and grab them till Garth gets here. He's getting the mother cat to trust him and he wants Garth to hurry because he really has to sneeze."

"And he's afraid he'll scare the mother and her kittens…" Cas shook his head fondly at the thought of Dean valiantly trying to hold back for the sake of the little things. As much as he protested cats, he really did like them.

When Garth arrived, Cas continued to keep Mary busy as Sam helped Dean retrieve each ball of fur, one by one. Garth immediately checked each kitten that was revealed after first checking the one that Mary had initially found. Soon, all three of them were huddled around the box as Dean gently lowered the mother cat, snuggly wrapped in a towel in case she panicked, down into the bedding with 2 of her 3 kittens. Garth still had the last one in his hands and a collective sigh of relief was expelled as soon as the gangly man cheerfully pronounced the kitten as "not dead."

With it now safe, Cas returned with an excited Mary who tried to restrain herself at their request to try and not 'scare the babies'. And as soon as it was safe to do so, Dean ducked out of the room, and violent sneezing could be heard, followed by a "Sonuvabitch! That fucking hurt!"

"Language!" Cas called back.

"Sorry," Dean said ruefully as he rejoined them. "So now what? I took a look at the collar, and that's the Walkers cat."

"But Gordon and his family moved away a month ago…she's been on her own ever since?" Cas breathed out in horror, eyes wide.

“Looks like. She couldn’t have been in here the whole time without us knowing, right?” Dean looked alarmed at the thought of the cat possibly starving because they hadn’t known she was there.

Garth shook his head at the couple. “No, it’s more likely that she’s been surviving outside but when it came close to the time to deliver she looked for someplace warm and safe. I’d check to see if you have any holes that lead into that laundry room, but it’s always possibly she just crawled in an open window or darted in when you opened the door. She probably hasn’t been here long.”

“So the question still stands, what now? Do you think your neighbor is going to come back for her?”

Dean snorted at his brothers words. “Yeah right. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of the man since he left. There’s been no lost posters put up and he didn’t leave a forwarding address. He wasn’t exactly welcome in the neighborhood.”

“Oh right, wasn’t that the guy your neighbors threw a party for – after he left?” Garth piped in. Cas and Dean nodded and then looked at each other, sharing glances and looks, a whole other language that left Sam and Garth in the dark.

“Garth, why don’t you give us a list of what we should pick up from the store to take care of these guys. And uh, what do we need to know to make sure they’re all right?”

“Hey, no worries. I’m gonna stop by every couple of days to check in on these little guys, okay? They still got their mama, so the only one I’d worry about is that one.” He pointed to the one Dean had thought was dead. “He’s a little weaker than his siblings, they probably weren’t getting enough to eat. Who knows the last time mama had a good meal.” Garth headed over to the table that still had Mary’s newest letter laid out on the table and snagged a blank piece of paper and a pen, quickly jotting down a few things. “So, does this mean y’all are gonna keep them?”

“We’ll see. But no matter what, they need to get stronger and a little older before we even think of breaking them up.”

“Dean, I don’t like the idea of breaking up a family.” Castiel’s hand landed on Dean’s shoulder and he looked over at his husbands’ concerned face.

“I don’t either Cas, but we agreed to one pet, not four.” Dean protested halfheartedly. The blue eyed man said nothing, just continued to stare at him. Sam snorted as he watched Cas work his magic on Dean. Dean melted and his shoulders slumped as he hung his head in defeat.

“Fine, all four it is. Now who’s telling Mary?”

It started with a letter, and it ended with one too.

Christmas morning dawned early. Too early for Dean and Cas, but not nearly early enough for Mary. Before she headed to the living room and the tree and her hoped for letter from Santa to confirm the kittens that had taken up residence, she jumped on her fathers' bed and crawled up between them.

“Daddy…Papa…guess what _day_ it is?” She breathed out the words really softly, took a breath and the resulting yell of “It’s CHRISTMAS!” succeeded in making both of her father’s jolt awake. She chuckled gleefully as Daddy fell backwards off the bed because Papa had been curled up around him and they were closer to that side of the bed. Castiel let his heart calm before he rolled off the bed, scooping Mary up and into his arms.

“We gotta check the tree, Papa! See if Santa answered me yet. Do you think he did?”

“I’m positive he did. Let’s grab your Daddy and head to the living room, okay?” Cas smiled at Dean’s grumbling as the three of them trooped out of the bedroom. Mary could barely contain her excitement and Dean and Cas grinned, knowing what was coming.

They reached the living room and the lights from the tree still glowed brightly in the dimness of the morning. Mary had really gotten them up early. She grew quiet in Cas’ arms as they approached the heavily decorated tree that held court over numerous gaily wrapped presents. He lowered himself to the floor, Dean right beside him and looking at Mary in concern. She was biting her lip and her eyes seemed sad.

“Hey, it’s Christmas morning, what’s the matter Mary?” She turned and ducked her head into his shoulder and Castiel looked at Dean helplessly as he held her. “Mary? Please talk to us?” He heard a sniff. “Mary?”

“Santa didn’t get me a pet, Papa.”

“What makes you say that?” Dean scotched closer to wrap his own arms around their child.

“I told Santa not to bring me any other presents because I wanted a pet, but there’s lots under the tree.” She sniffled again. Castiel and Dean melted at their daughters words.

“Oh sweetheart, no, take a closer look. Those presents are from me and Papa, some are from our friends. And we got packages in the mail from all our family who live too far away to make it here for Christmas. You should still look and see. Don’t give up hope.” Dean watched as Mary perked up and Castiel’s body slumped in relief that a crisis had been averted. And with as high as her hopes were right now, both were damn glad they’d not ignored their little girls’ request.

“Really?”

“Yeah, go on.” Castiel encouraged her. She crawled off his lap and headed toward the tree. Dean and Cas had made sure to make the envelope nice and big and put it right up front, hanging off the tree at her eye level. Mary knew to check the tree first, since it was a Winchester-Novak tradition to place cards in the branches. Of course, Santa would know that too. After all, he knew if you were naughty or nice.

 She found the one with her name on it and squealed as she picked up the bright red envelope covered in pictures of Candy Canes, a real one taped to the outside.

She darted back to her fathers and plopped down in her Daddy’s lap this time, though it didn’t matter since they sat so close together, she was practically sharing their laps. Tongue sticking out, she worked at opening the envelope and pulling out the folded letter. She thrust it at her Papa.

“Read it Papa! Is it from Santa?”

Cas chuckled as he took the letter from her. He knew what it said already. He and Dean had collaborated and agonized on exactly what to say for over a week. “I think it is!” She bounced in excitement and got an ‘oof’ from Dean as she landed on his lap in an unpleasant way.

_“Dear Mary,_

_I’m sorry I didn’t write to you sooner. Getting ready for Christmas is a tough job! But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. I love to make people happy._

_The kittens and their mama are indeed your Christmas present. You got them so early because the mama cat lost her home and needed one real quick. I knew from your letter that you would be the perfect person to help me out and that you had a lot of love to give them._

_Stay good Mary. I know you’ve given these poor, lost kitties a good home. Now turn around, I left you some other presents. Thank you for being so generous to volunteer yours to other children, but don’t worry, Santa usually has enough for everyone._

_Love, Santa  
North Pole”_

The three kittens, much bigger and healthier than they had been just under a month ago, chose that moment to tumble into the room. The little white one darted straight for the tree and started batting at the lowest hanging ornaments, while the fluffy black one latched onto Dean’s back and started climbing up to his shoulder. The tabby striped one bounded over to Mary and jumped up to rub his face against hers as she leaned down with a happy giggle.

“You’re officially my kitty now Mr. Snuggles.” She whispered to him. “I hope you want to stay here forever and ever and ever. You and Indiana and Spook and Mama Cat.”

“Hey, Indy! Get away from that!” Dean growled at the white kitten as it latched onto one of the branches and tried to climb the tree. “No, bad kitty, down! Indiana, I’m talking to you!” Castiel reached over with a chuckle and plucked Spook off his husbands’ shoulders as Dean went to take care of the troublemaker of the three.

Mama Cat finally strolled in, sniffing at the presents that had appeared under the tree overnight. Mary beamed happily at the scene. She had everything she wanted. She’d asked Santa for one pet, and she’d gotten four. _This was the best Christmas ever,_ the little girl thought as she snuggled into her Papa and watched her Daddy wrestle with a kitten and lose.

Finally, Dean started passing out presents with the added ‘assistance’ of two of the kittens and under the watchful eye of Mama Cat. Castiel nudged their daughter and motioned towards the pile in front of her. “Are you ready, sweetie?” She gasped in amazement at the size of the pile when she hadn’t expected any other presents at all. Mr. Snuggles had curled up in her lap and she used her now free hands to clap as she squealed,

“Presents! C’mon Mr. Snuggles! Let’s open up our presents!”

She was six, after all. There were priorities.

Mary launched herself at the pile and started tearing through the paper with both of her fathers’ very quickly making sure the wrapping paper was tossed in a bag set aside just for that and make sure no kittens would choke on Christmas morning.

Barely three hours later, Sam and Eileen knocked on the door, John in Eileen’s arms and let themselves in when they didn’t get an answer. Walking in, they found the Winchester-Novak household a disaster of discarded paper and boxes. All three of the residents were curled up in a pile and snoring away, with three tiny kittens and their mom curled up in the little nooks and crannies created by two proud dads and adorable little girl, and all of them fast asleep.

 


End file.
